Month: May 2016

I used to love egg and soldiers (if you don’t know what that is google it, as obviously I don’t have a picture – being vegan now and all that).

That was before I realised and learnt about the horrific conditions that lay (no pun intended) before a hen whilst producing egg after egg after egg. Or the fact that male chicks are killed just because they don’t have the reproductive organs to give us what we want for breakfast (or dinner if that’s what you prefer or preferred).

This isn’t about making something taste the same as egg

No, far from it.

But it’s about creating a tasty, cruelty and life giving free alternative to what we all know and love as breakfast.

So I made this today and was pretty proud of the outcome (smiling inwardly because it didn’t cost a life)

So do you want to give it a go?

Here’s what you’ll need:

(serves: Serves 2-3)

15 oz. tofu, firm (about 415 grams)

½ tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. turmeric powder

3 Tbsp vegetable stock

1 Leek

coconut oil

Organic Pitta Bread

plus a can of plum tomato’s and kidney beans) optional on the side

What you’ll need to do

Drain the tofu from the water and place to one side. Now heat a nonstick pan (I used a wok) or if you don’t have nonstick make sure you use enough oil to stop it from sticking. Then place it over a medium heat. Plop a knob of coconut oil into the pan and add the tofu (breaking it up by hand so it resembles scramble egg) and toss it together with all the spices.

Then slice a leek and drop that in with it. Using a spatula mix all the ingredients together so it turns a lovely yellow colour and start cooking. Now add the veg stock a tablespoon at a time, bring it to the boil so it absorbs the tofu each time you add it.

Whilst this is cooking, in a separate pot just heat your can of tinned tomato’s and kidney beans adding a dash of paprika if you wish!

Once both are cooked thoroughly (i.e the leek has softened and the tofu absorbed all the stock) serve in your pitta bread and enjoy!

Oh don’t forget to salt and pepper the tofu for extra taste!
Soooo what do you think?

Let me know

Px

p.s thanks to Fork & Beansfor this amazing recipe which I used to create this 🙂

If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know that I’ve got an allotment plot. I’ve wanted to grow my own vegetables and live off the land for a wee while now, and it looks like it’s working out. Not only am I growing veg at the allotment, I’m also growing more varied veg in my own back yard!

Excuse the washing and the dog!

I’m growing crops such as chick peas, soya beans, courgettes, peppers and so much more. I wanted to grow food that I’d actually eat, and being a vegan these kinds of crops will go down very nicely!

So what’s this got to do with bread?

Not much to be fair. Other than the fact that I want to live more by my own hand, via the land and using up food that I’d never normally have used, until now. I mean, to live well you’ve got to make do with what you’ve got right? And since I had a few bags of semolina, I did the old google thang and hey-presto I’ve got Semolina bread!

Since starting this journey I’ve cooked things I’d never thought I’d every cook/create. I mean, making my ownsoya milk was brilliant in itself but to create my own beautiful loaf would be even better – in my eyes anyway!

I’ve got this dream. I want to live completely free of supermarkets, money (well a lot less), live off the land whilst looking after animals who might otherwise have gone to their death for the meat industry. It’s a dream that I intend to fulfill one day, so whilst I’m working towards that I’m learning to make food from scratch from what I have. I even want to grow my own wheat – but that’s another story!

So here’s my very first loaf of semolina bread – what do you think?

I am absolutely proud of it to be fair and what’s more it’s really easy to make and ever so light!

What you’ll need to do (bear with me, it may seem a lot but really it is easy!):

Start by adding your water and yeast to a large mixing bowl. Stir this together and let it sit for a few minutes until the yeast dissolves completely. Then add your salt and semolina flour to the mix. I did it by hand, just because I wanted to do it for real 🙂

When you stir in your semolina flour, it’ll look like scrambled eggs. Next, add about 140 g of bread flour to the dough and stir it until it forms a rough ball. If it’s really dry, add a bit more water and if it’s really sticky then sprinkle on some more flour.

Roll this out onto a lightly floured surface. It should be pretty firm at this point.

Let the semolina relax and absorb some of the water before working with it. So, let the dough rest for about 5-10 minutes before trying to knead it. It makes it a lot easier to work with – believe me :).

Then knead this dough for about 10 minutes until it’s very elastic and really smooth and soft. If the dough gets sticky at any point, sprinkle with more flour. Then after a few minutes though you should have a very smooth dough ball.

Add this to a large bowl and coat it well with olive oil. Cover it with a towel and let it rise until it triples in size it will probably take a few hours (about 3 approx)

After the 3 hours, take the dough out of the bowl, punch it down, knead it for another minute or so, then return it to the bowl and drizzle it with more olive oil. Let it rise a second time until it doubles in size. It’ll rise a lot faster the second time. It’ll probably take only 45 minutes to an hour to get there.

Making the loaf

I decided to give it a rustic look. So I punched down the dough and then rolled it into a rectangle. I then folded one site over 2/3rds of the way over. Then i did the same the other side and tucked in both ends to make my loaf shape. I then scored it across the top with a sharp knife to make it look a bit more authentic.

Now preheat your oven to about 250 degree’s and lay your loaf onto a baking sheet. It will rise again so give it about 30 minutes. Then slide your loaf into the oven leaving it at temp 200 (fan assisted oven) and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown and hollow when you hit it.

Safe to say you’ll love this loaf, it’s ever so nice and brilliant toasted or used to dip into soup!

So these little beauties came from my allotment. They’d been planted early last year (prior to me taking over the plot) which means I am lucky enough to reap the rewards!

This meant I had to have one of them at least for dinner that night

There is nothing more satisfying than growing from the land and then coming up with a recipe which, not only makes it delicious, but enhances it’s earthy beautiful flavors.

So I came up with this recipe. I wanted to make it spicy, because leek (in my book) was not a vegetable you’d be able to spice up!

But, it seems I was wrong! It’s actually a great combination and you are going to love it! (don’t I always say that?!!)

This is a recipe for one, because it was just me at home – but I’m sure you’ll know how to do more if there’s more needed.

What you’ll need:

A tablespoon of olive oil
1 large garlic clove
A shake of chili flakes
A shake of fennel seeds
One large leek (your own home grown if you can!)
200g tin of chopped tomato’s
2 teaspoons of nutritional yeast (plus a little bit more to garnish)
2 handfuls of spiral pasta (or any pasta you fancy)

What you’ll need to do:

Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, or just do what I do: boil the kettle, add the boiled water to the pasta in a sauce pan and then heat until the pasta is cooked (not too soft though).

Whilst the pasta is cooking, chop the garlic very finely and add that to the olive oil. Cook but do not burn. Then add the shake of chili flakes, the fennel seeds and then the sliced leek. Cook so the leek is soft and combined with the other flavors. Then add the tomato’s and bring to the boil, add the 2 teaspoons of nutritional yeast to make it a little bit creamer and less tart.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and place into a bowl. Now add the leek sauce to the pasta and sprinkle some of that lovely nutritional yeast on top!

Not really one for eating asparagus. Not because I don’t like them, I’ve just never been brought up on them so they’ve never been a veg I’ve hankered after. Saying that, I’ve got a few friends who love their food and these are at the top of their list of good and tasty veg – the natural version though; not tinned!

Luckily, after a bit of googling (got to love the internet!) I found a rather simple recipe on Cafe JohnSonia to use these in.

I love an easy recipe and this one suited me down to the ground, a good old risotto!

So if you’ve got a tin of asparagus lolloping about in your cupboard then try this……you will love it. That my friend is a promise 🙂

Pour your stock into a pan and bring just to a simmer. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat, then add the oil and heat for 30-60 seconds until simmering. Add the shallot and cook, stirring frequently, until it starts to soften. Add the garlic and cook for a bit longer.

Now you’ll need to add the rice. Cook and stir constantly for about a minute and then add the white wine. It’ll sizzle a bit, that’s OK, just keep stirring and let the rice absorb it. Once that’s done add the lemon juice.

Next, ladle a bit of the stock into the pan. Cook, stirring constantly and letting the liquid be completely absorbed. The heat should be on medium to medium-low – just as long as it’s not too hot, because you’ll not be wanting to burn the bottom of your saucepan or the rice! Keep cooking and adding another ladle of stock. Repeat until rice is creamy and all cooked through, you’ll want it to have a bit of a bite to it (so not mushy).

Lastly remove from heat and then stir in the asparagus. Because it’s canned it will heat up quickly within the risotto, add a bit of salt and pepper and serve (oh and add a wee bit of lemon to the dish to make it look swish!)

Recipe Note:

I recently bought some of this:

So I’ll be adding a touch of this over the top of risotto’s in future!

I recently received a bag of organic soya beans and didn’t know what to do with them. I’d considered making soya milk a few times, but never quite followed through because I thought it would be too difficult or I’d need more than a bag full of beans!

Then I stumbled upon this blog, all about making soy milk from soya beans and I just couldn’t resist giving it a try!

Guess what? It’s only blooming easy!!

It’s that easy I’ve even started to grow soya beans in my ‘garden allotment’ at home because I want to be more self sufficient, and if I can do it for myself then you can do it too! (I’ll write a post my allotment later on, because I love it!)

Soak the soyabeans in water overnight for a minimum of 12 hours. Then drain the soyabeans and remove the outer skins – this will take you about 20 minutes, I found it easier to squeeze the soyabean and watch the skin slip off.

Once you’ve taken all the skins off, blend the soyabeans with 750 milliliters of water until well blended and almost smooth. You’ll then need to strain the blended mixture using a cheesecloth, a napkin or a strainer.

Pour the mixture in a saucepan, add 250 milliliters of water. Place the saucepan on the stove over high heat and bring to a boil. Stir and skim foam. Then cook the milk over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or so.

Once completed let it cool down. Once cooled add the vanilla essence – this will make it taste a little bit sweeter.

Then store it in an old jam jar or something similar and pop it into your fridge. It lasted around 5 days for me, but you’ll know if it’s not right by giving it a sniff!

On the plus side, it’s even good in tea! I was very pleased about that!